Theron, Linda C.2019-01-172019-01-172019-09Theron, L. 2019, 'Championing the resilience of sub-Saharan adolescents : pointers for psychologists', South African Journal of Psychology, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 325-336.0081-2463 (print)2078-208X (online)10.1177/0081246318801749http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68171In this article, I argue that an ecological systems approach to resilience – specifically, one that is sensitive to how contextual determinants shape successful adaptation differentially – offers a meaningful way to enable sub-Saharan adolescents to adapt well to the apparently intractable risks to their health and well-being. Accordingly, I draw on studies of child and adolescent resilience from sub-Saharan Africa and the global North to show that the resilience field has largely moved beyond individual-focused theories of resilience that have the (long-term) potential to jeopardize adolescent health and well-being and advance neoliberal agendas. I emphasize that the recent attention to differentially impactful resilience-enablers casts suspicion on incautious application of universally recurring resilience-enablers. Allied to this, I problematize the delay in the identification of resources that impact the resilience of sub-Saharan adolescents differentially. Finally, I distil implications for resilience-directed praxis and research that have the potential to advance the championship of adolescent resilience in sub-Saharan Africa.en© The Author(s) 2018Adolescent resilienceContextualized insightsDifferential impact theoryEcological systems approach to resilienceResilience championSub-Saharan AfricaPostprint Article